Fireplace
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Emma's favourite place in the Swan-Mills Mansion - SQ and SwanMillsFamily fluff


_Short SQ oneshot that popped into my head. Fluffy SQ and SwanMillsFamily. I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy :) _

There's a lot of places in the mansion Emma loves. Over the years she's come to find many places that hold her cherished memories, from the beginning when she could barely get a foot across the threshold without a stern glare from Regina to now where it is and has been her home for a few years now.

As she steps through the front door she sees the bowl on the cabinet under the mirror. It never used to be there until Emma moved in. After four weeks of hearing Emma ask "Where are my keys?" Regina had had enough. For their one month anniversary of living together Emma gave Regina a mirror to replace the one she had inadvertently smashed during a Nerf gun war with Henry and Regina gave Emma a bowl to put her keys in.

Emma chucks them in now before moving through to the kitchen. Her eyes as usual dart to the fridge. Occasionally after they will go to the table where they share family breakfast and dinner, two events of the day that no-one in the Swan-Mills household is allowed to miss no matter how busy. Every day however Emma will look to the fridge, not for the food inside but for what decorates the door. There are a few cherished photos: Emma and Regina at the beach, arms round each other and matching grins; Henry and Lila at the swings and Lucy blowing out her first birthday candle. There are a couple of magnets purchased on family vacations, markers of a world gradually being explored. Then there's various artworks be it the sketch Henry drew of them as a family or Lucy's handprints from pre-school.

Emma smiles brightly before peering out at the apple tree in the garden. There's still a branch missing from where Emma cut it down seven years ago but it doesn't make the spot any less cherished. It's a spot for family picnics and a great space for hide and seek. What Emma loves about it though is taking a blanket and snuggling up with Regina underneath it stargazing or simply just enjoying the night. They have a porch swing but they always inevitably end up under the apple tree. It's also the spot where Emma proposed five years ago and they still sit there every anniversary.

She then runs up the stairs moving past Henry's bedroom now filled with teenage gadgets, then past Lila's which is a full of stuffed animals and painted like a storybook forest and then past Lucy's which is painted a pale pink and adorned with dolls and babies since before she reaches the bedroom she shares with her wife.

There's the bed full of so many memories. Passion and lust leading way to making love but still full of desire. Then there's the first time Regina let her stay the night when she learned the joy of waking up to see Regina in her arms. There's the window where Regina sits and watches the snow still finding an almost childlike awestruck wonder in the white flakes that blanket the ground. There's the vanity, once Regina's but is now a scattering of both of their trinkets and needed accessories. She smiles shedding off her leather jacket and hanging it up in their closet.

She pulls on her slipper boots, an annual gift from Henry – each year a different animal, this time round fluffy lions, before she makes her way downstairs passing by photos of their family. Walking down the stairs is like a walk down memory lane and normally Emma always winds up stopping to look at least one picture. Today is no different and she finds herself chuckling at a photo of Regina and Lila at the school fair, both their faces covered in candyfloss.

Emma slides down the hallway in her boots pushing her way through to the living room, the home of Friday night movie and pizza night, the place where Regina asked her to move in and where Lucy took her first steps and where Regina pulled out all the photo albums to show Emma Henry's childhood.

There's a lot of places in the mansion Emma loves but her favourite is the fireplace.

The fireplace is where they hang the stockings at Christmas. It's where they have photo portraits of all five of them. There's also a couch right in front of it where in the wintertime the whole family bundles up under blankets and cuddles together. Even when it's not cold Regina and Emma still find themselves on this couch snuggled up and chatting. When Emma works late she can guarantee that she will find Regina half asleep in front of the fireplace.

Today is no exception.

Emma walks across the living room before slipping into her spot on the couch. Regina smiles up at her waking from her "baby powernap" as she likes to call them, "Hey."

"Hey," Emma says, "How's our boy today?"

Regina smiles, "He's doing well. How was work?"

"Workish," Emma replies with a grin as Regina scoots towards her resting her head against Emma's heart. Emma slips her arm around Regina's shoulder kissing the top of dark curls before Regina turns her head and greets her with a sweet loving kiss on the lips.

The fireplace is Emma's favourite place in their home. It's where she feels safest and happiest. It was the first place in the mansion where she truly felt she had found all she had wanted for her entire life – home. Here on this couch with the woman she loves in her arms she is right where she needs to be. She smiles happily kissing Regina once more, "I'm home."

_Thanks for reading :)_


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